


How a home is made

by Oxsix



Series: One-shots [1]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 16:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21059351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oxsix/pseuds/Oxsix
Summary: Kitty builds a family; step by step.In which bonds are forged over cups of tea.





	How a home is made

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a fluffy ass drabble about the queens and how the each get close to kitty because I'm sad about khoward. Enjoy!

Kitty is timid at first. They all are, in a way, when they first move in together. After all, they've only really known each other for a few weeks, and some of them aren't on the best of terms.

It was an awful idea, really, for them to all live together. But the money is running out, and the people who'd brought them back can't afford to keep renting them all separate places. And so, here they are, in a relatively small, six bedroom house outside of London.

And Kitty isn't really sure where she stands. She hadn't known most of them the first time, not even her own cousin, and she doesn't want to get herself caught up in the middle of the other women's disagreements.

* * *

Anna, surprisingly, is exactly the same as she has always been. She's a bright spot in Kitty's darker days, and she always seems to know when she's at her lowest. She's there for Kitty in those times, with kind words, whispered affirmations and jokes that always seem to catch Kitty off-guard, no matter how prepared she thinks she is.

And it's perfect, in it's way; it's hard to keep crying when Anna is around. Kitty is grateful, beyond what words could express, for her old friend. She worries, though, that she relies too much on Anna's support; that she might be a drain on her friends happiness. But every time, Anna reassures her that it's okay, that this is what friends are for.

Still, it's this that drives Kitty to interact with the others. At the very least, she doesn't want to be attached to Anna at all times.

* * *

While Anna and Cathy had had a little tension between them when they'd first come back, they'd quickly settled and forgotten their differences. Both were fairly civil with each other, anyhow, and they were the first of then to really form a friendship, outside of Kitty and Anna.

They spend a lot of quieter moments together—reading peacefully, or avidly discussing the intricacies of the modern world and their new findings.

The two of them are also the ones Kitty feels most comfortable around, in the beginning. Anna is an old friend, of course. But Parr is surprisingly easy for her to be around, too.

She has quite a gentle presence, and always greets Kitty pleasantly, talking idly about her latest areas of interest. She's kind, and open, and always makes conversation with Kitty, but Kitty doesn't feel any pressure to keep them going. The ebb and flow of their discussions feels comfortable. Parr was the sort of person who was happy to spend time with her, without expecting anything from her.

On warmer mornings, the two of them sit outside with their cups of tea, and watch the birds. They're generally up last, Kitty thanks to her nightmares, and Cathy because of her tendency to become entirely absorbed in her work.

Kitty likes this new friendship. She likes their quiet, laidback familiarity. She likes being able to spend time with someone who isn't asking for anything in return. She'd had enough of that the first time.

* * *

It takes a lot longer for Kitty to get closer to the others though. Unsurprisingly, her cousin is the first of the three to let Kitty in.

It happens when Kitty hears quiet, muffled sobs from Anne's room late at night. She's panicking, Kitty can tell—tell she's been there plenty times before. She stands on the other side of the door, wondering if it would be an invasion of Anne's privacy to enter.

When she hears Anne let out a particularly heart-wrenching whimper in her sleep, she makes up her mind. She slowly opens the door, and moves to the side of the bed. Gently, she shakes her estranged cousin awake.

Her eyes are wide: confused and frightened. She looks disorientated and startled by Kitty's presence. Once she gets her bearings, she looks upset.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, uncomfortable at being seen in such a vulnerable moment.

"Sorry, I just.. well, I heard you and thought you must be having a nightmare, and–it's just," she doesn't know what to say; she only wanted to help, but she hardly knows Anne. "I get them, too. I know what it's like, so I thought... you might like some company?"

Anne looks at her then, softly. She doesn't say anything.

She moves over, and gestures for Kitty to lie with her. She does, and Anne rests her head on her younger cousins shoulder. She sniffles quietly, and Kitty absent-mindedly runs her hands through the other girl's hair, as Anna often does when she needs comforting.

They stay like that, until they both fall asleep. Neither of them says anything—they don't need to. The quiet speaks for them.

They fall into a routine after this. When one of them had a nightmare, or can't sleep for memories of apathetic crowds and sharp blades–they go to the other's room, and they spend the night together, soothed by the knowledge that their pain is shared, and understood.

* * *

Jane is next, and it's surprising how close the two of them become. She's cold at first, distant from everyone.

Kitty doesn't see her much at all, only hears her during her heated arguments with Anna. They aren't as common as Anne's arguments with Catalina; the two of them lean more towards cold, barbed words and avoidance than fiery debate. But, when they do erupt, well—it's a lot.

The rest of the house tends to stay out of their way on these bad days—both women are full of hell after their conflicts.

It's on one of these days that Kitty first understands who Jane really is. The argument that morning—prompted by a disagreement about the usage of milk—had been particularly vitriolic, and both women had said things that they would one day regret. Things that hit a little too close to home.

A few minutes after the yelling stops, Kitty goes to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast, only to find Jane still there, standing stock-still, a mug held firmly in her grip. Her breathing is heavy and she is staring fixedly out of the window, at nothing in particular. Kitty moves closer, and coughs gently to make her presence known.

Jane startles at this, jolting suddenly. The mug falls from her hand and clatters into the sink, shattering. Jane only panics more. Her eyes are wild with fear. She looks like she's afraid for her life, and Kitty doesn't thinks she's quite here with her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry," the older woman repeats, over and over until her voice devolves into sobs. Kitty gently puts a hand on her back. She asks what's wrong.

Jane doesn't answer, and she doesn't need to. Kitty understands. Jane's relationship with Henry hadn't been perfect, either. Even the one he'd supposedly loved had suffered because of him. And that fear had followed Jane into this life, just like it had Kitty.

So Kitty sits with her, until the tears subside.

The next night, as usual, Kitty is woken by a nightmare. But this time, when she wakes, clutching at her throat, she feels a weight settle gently at the end of her bed. She expects it to be Anne.

It isn't. Jane takes Kitty into her arms and lies with her. She hums softly, as Kitty's panic dissipates.

And in her arms, Kitty feels safer than she has felt for a long time. Nobody has held her like this since her mother died. It's something Kitty hadn't realised she was missing.

She feels protected, and valued. She feels like a kid again. And it's a relief. She never really had the chance, last time.

Kitty falls asleep there, and she and Jane quickly become like a real mother and daughter.

And it works. After all, Jane had missed out on her chance to be a mother last time, and Kitty had missed out on the chance to have one. This time, neither of them were going to miss their chance.

Kitty is grateful for Jane, even if Anne resents their bond at first.

* * *

The final piece of the puzzle takes even longer to fall into place.

Catalina scares Kitty, at first. She's aloof, dignified—every bit a Queen. And she's _real _royalty, not like Katherine.

As much as the first queen makes her feelings about Anne widely known, she keeps most things to herself. She's extremely distant with Kitty, and she isn't sure how she should interact with her. 

They've barely said two words to each other, outside of "hello" and "good morning." Kitty has seen her have short, pleasant conversations with Jane, but even they are fairly formal.

The only person she's seen Catalina be genuinely open with is Cathy. She tries to keep this hidden too, but Kitty has seen the soft smile she deserves for her God daughter, as well as the way she always seems to have a coffee made for the younger woman when she finally resurfaces from her bedroom at midday.

It's wordless, and subtle. But Kitty sees it.

The date Kitty comes to understand Aragon is the 18th of February, and Kitty doesn't know, at the time, why this is significant. But, that morning, Catalina is even more withdrawn than usual. She doesn't say good morning, doesn't speak to Jane, and when Cathy comes down, there's no coffee waiting for her. She gives Kitty an enquiring look as she makes a mug for herself. Kitty shrugs, and leave the room with the two mugs of tea she has made.

She finds Aragon outside. Definitely not dressed appropriately for the cold weather, and clutching a mug of coffee—which must have gone cold by now—so tightly that her knuckles are white.

As Kitty approaches, Catalina doesn't look at her. That's when Kitty notices the tear tracks down her face. She says nothing, only hands the other woman a hot cup of tea, and a throw she'd taken from the living room.

Silently, Aragon accepts them. She looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn't.

A few days later, Kitty is up uncharacteristically early in the morning. She'd woken from a nightmare and hadn't managed to get back to sleep.

It's about 5am, and when she gets downstairs, she finds Catalina alone in the kitchen, in her dressing gown.

"You're up early." She remarks.

"Bad dream" Kitty replies. It's the most they've ever spoken at once.

Aragon places a mug of tea in front of her, then sits across the table.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The question takes Kitty by surprise, and it's all she needs to say. Words spill from Kitty's mouth, and she isn't sure at which point she starts crying.

She bares her soul, and Catalina sits quietly, listening. Eventually, she moves around the table, and Kitty's head is on her shoulder as she cries.

Her hand moves softly through Kitty's hair, gently working it's way through every tangle in her bed-head.

It's comforting, and Kitty remembers that Catalina has done this before. Her own daughter had been around Kitty's age when they'd last seen each other.

Again, Kitty sees silent tears well in the other woman's eyes, and she realises that Aragon needs this just as much as she does. She understands why she has been so gentle with Parr, and so eager to speak with Jane.

She's clutching to anything that might remind her of Mary. Yesterday was her birthday. Aragon missed her daughter, but she couldn't say it.

And Kitty understood, now, why it had taken her song to open up.

She smiles softly at Catalina, who sniffles and wipes her eyes.

"Never speak of this again," she says, with what Kitty thinks is supposed to be a wink.

"I won't," she giggles, and winks back. "Promise."

And, while she's not good at saying it, Kitty knows that she cares for her.

* * *

And this is how Kitty's family begins. 

Over time, the shouting matches cease. Arguments die, old enemies reconcile. It takes time, and no small amount of effort on Kittys part, but her family becomes a unit.

Tearful confessions and overdue apologies lead to deeper understanding between them all, and little by little, they grow closer.

Finally, Kitty has the family she never had back then, and she loves them more than anything. 


End file.
